Hillsong Highlights!

Over the years Hillsong has copped a lot of flack for many things and yet once again they have shown themselves to be gracious and continually God glorifying. I have recently returned from the Hillsong Conference and was suitably impressed with their continual focus on Jesus Christ and the absolute humility with which they carried themselves, particularly Brian Houston.

I felt my heart heal over the 2 days I attended as i worshipped Jesus and listened to the teaching of God’s Word. Of particular note was Craig Groeschels ministry. He preached a message titled: Pain – A leaders constant companion! He preached from 2 Cor 11:23-28 about Paul’s hardships in ministry and then talked about increasing your pain threshold in 3 key areas. They include: Unjustified criticism; Making hard decisions and God’s pruning.

This message spoke to my heart as I have felt some pain recently with unrealized expectations I had of God and the Church and also feeling God prune my heart and Activate Church, preparing it for more fruit in the days ahead. Several years ago I received a prophetic word from Nick Resce talking about 3 seasons in my life that will continually repeat itself. These 3 seasons will be pruning, preparation and productivity. While I think I am being prepared for what God wants to do through us, he is also pruning me at the same time. We all need pruning if we are going to be productive in our lives.

Regarding the Hillsong Conference, I was uplifted, healed and inspired by what God is doing in their midst. Australians really struggle with the ‘Tall Poppie Syndrome’ and i think it’s a national sin. We pull down anyone who is excelling forward, not wanting to see anyone succeed if we can’t and I think it means that a whole lot of Australians are going to miss out on the blessings that come from dropping the skeptical attitude and diving in and discovering God at work in a powerful way.